Lid support for cedar chests



May 2 9, 1934. LQFTIN 1,960,642

LID SUPPORT FOR CEDAR CHESTS Filed Sept. 15, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I /9ll" /%20 r ,1 I 7 I f 6 /4 .5 i i A? /2 1 z /3 B i 7 a I (I l 7' if /J y1934' G. A. LOFTIN 1,960,642

LID SUPPORT FOR CEDAR CHESTS Filed Sept. 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Elma/whom (l/Rowan;

Patented May 29, 1934 PATENT 1,960,642 LID SUPPORT FOR CEDAR CHESTSGrady A. Loftin, Altavista, Va., assignor to The, Lane Company, Inc., acorporation of Virginia Application September 15, 1933, Serial No.689,676

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cedar chests and like storagereceptacles, and has particular reference to the provision of a noveland. improved support for holding the chest lid or 6 cover in openposition.

Heretofore lid supports of the type to which my invention relates havebeen arranged and mounted, that is, connected to the chest body and lidor cover, so as to be exposed on the inside of the 10 chest when the lidor cover is in closed position. Supports of this type, besides beingobjectionable because of the liability of the clothes becoming entangledtherewith and causing damage either to clothes or the support, or both,are also open to f other material objections. These supports, usually inthe form of hinged stay members, are commonly made of a metal or metalswhich, like the other hardware elements of the chest, are attractive tocedar oil aroma or vapor and, as a result, cedar oil deposits are causedthereon in the form of a gummy coating which is liable to stain andotherwise cause injury to the clothes or other contents of the chest. Ithas been discovered that such deposits on hardware fittings due tocatalytic action can be overcome by making the metal parts of metal ormetal alloys which are non-catalytic or non-attractive to cedar oilvapor or by providing the metal parts with a coating or plating of suchnon-catalytic metals or alloys.

For purposes of economy it is desirable, of course, to use hardwarefittings plated in this manner, but this can not be done withoutdetriment in the use of inside stay supports, for the reason that therubbing action of the relatively hinged component parts of such supportson one another causes wear and a scraping away of the plating leavingthe catalytic metal exposed. Furthermore, the elements of the insidetype supports heretofore used are, when the lid or cover is closed,

disposed upon the inside of the chest so as to be fully exposed to theaction of the cedar oil vapor, so that, in case of the exposure ofcatalytic metal surfaces, a rapid gumming thereof through the action ofthe deposit of cedar oil thereon will 5 occur.

One object of my invention is to provide a construction of lid supportwhich adapts the parts to be so mounted upon the chest body and lid thatwhen the lid is closed the parts of the lid support will lie insubstantially parallel relation and horizontally or substantially sobetween the sides of the lid and sides of the body and on the outside ofthe walls of the latter, so as to be fully protected from any action ordeposits of cedar oil vapor thereon and at the same time obviate anyliability of contact between the parts of the support and the clothingor other contents of the chest.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction andarrangement of the parts of the support whereby said parts are adaptedto relatively fold in a compact manner between the chest body and thelid when the latter is closed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a construction andarrangement of the support parts and mode of mounting the same upon thechest body or lid whereby the use of noncatalytic metal may be avoided,if desired, and whereby a more presentable type of support is furnished,suitable for use upon fine chests, and also whereby an arrangement isobtained which avoids liability of injury to the parts of the chest bythe working action of the parts'of the support.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of thefeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts,hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cedar chest provided with a lidsupport embodying my invention and showing the lid supported in openposition thereby.

Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation of the chest with the lid closed andpartly broken away to show the parts of the support at the side thereofwhich is in view.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 3 with the lid inclosed position.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6-6 of Fig. 4. v

In the accompanying drawings I have shown the application of 'myinvention to a cedar chest 1 of usual type comprising a body 2, usuallyof rectangular or oblong rectangular form, and a hinged lid or cover 3.This lid or cover 3 is provided on its underside with a resilient me-.tallic sealing strip 4, of the type used upon the well'known Lanechest, for engagement with the upper marginal edges 5 of the front, rearand end walls 6, 7 and 8, respectively, of the chest to close the jointbetween the chest and lid when the latter is in closed position so as toprevent the escape of cedar oil aroma or vapor to the atmosphere.

The front, rear and end walls 6, '7 and 8 of the chest body and thebottom wall 9 thereof are formed of cedar oil bearing wood and providedeach with an outer veneer 10 of mahogany,

walnut or other desired finishing wood. This veneer is preferably coatedwith varnish or a similar preservative and decorative coating 11 whichterminates a predetermined distance below the marginal wall edges 5,leaving a plain surface 12 along the top portion of each wall which isunvarnished or free from the coating material. At the base of suchsurface 12 is a groove 13 which separates the uncoated zones from thecoated zones of the walls. The purpose of employing the bare or uncoatedwall zones 12 is to enable the walls 6, '7 and 8 to be coated byspraying or otherwise with the varnish or coating material withoutliability of any of such material being sprayed into the chest body andspotting or otherwise coating the internal aroma exudation surfacesthereof. By this means such surfaces are left exposed for the free andunimpeded exudation of the cedar oil aroma, and at the same time thewalls are protected from being coated by the varnish or coating materialwhich would not only interfere with the free exudation of the vapor but,as such substances are attractive to cedar oil, would cause theundesirable formation of gummy spots on the inner surfaces of the chestwalls.

The lid or cover 3, as shown, is connected at its rear edge by hingemembers 14 to the rear wall of the chest body, and said lid or cover isprovided on its underside with molding strips forming depending frontand side walls 15 and 16, respectively, which extend downwardly on theoutside of the upper portions of the walls 6 and 8 of the body 2 whenthe lid or cover is in closed position, in which position the portion ofthe resilient sealing strip 4 engage the marginal edges of the walls 6,7 and 8 of the body. The chest may be provided with a latch or-lockofsuitable type to hold the lid in closed position, said latch or lookcomprising engaging and keeper members 1'7 and '18 upon the lid andfront wall of the chest body. These look parts as well as the hingemembers and other hardware fittings of the chest are preferably inpractice made either of non-catalytic metal or provided with a platingor coating of non-catalytic metal or material in order to protect thesame from the accumulation of cedar oil vapor in the form of a gummydeposit thereon due to-catalytic action.

The support comprising the present invention for holding the lid 3 inopen positon comprises a pair of supporting members at each side of thechest, each pair of supporting members consisting of a guide member orstrip 19 on the lid and a stay link 20 sli'dably connecting the samewith the chest body. Each guide strip 19 is formed of metal of suitablestiffness arranged to bear against the inner face of'the adjacentdepending side wall of the lid 3 or a molding strip secured thereto andsaid guide strip is provided at its opposite ends with perforations 21for the passage ofsecur'ing screws or the like to secure it in position.Between these perforations the strip is formed with a longitudinallyextending guide slot 22, said slot cooperating with a groove 23 formedin the side wall or molding strip 16 to forma guideway. The coactingstay link member 20 is secured at one end by a pivot pin or screw 24 tothe adjacent'wall '8 of the chest body and is provided at its oppositeend with a headed pin or stud 25 which is arranged to travel in theguideway 23 to slidably and pivotally connect the link member with thelid or cover 3. The arrangement of these parts is'such that when the lid3 is fully open "and disposed detriment of catalytic metal.

in a direct vertical position, the links 20 will lie at an upward andrearward angle with the studs 25 positioned at the rear ends of theslots 22, in which position the links will hold the lid against backwardmovement and against forward movement unless pressure is appliedthereto. By positively moving the lid 3 forwardly and downwardly fromits open position the links 20 will be caused to swing forwardlytherewith on their pivots 24 to a certain degree, after which the pinsor studs 25 will slide forwardly in the guide slots 22 to allow the lidto have free downward movement to closed position, in which movement theguide strips and links will fold into parallelrelation so as to liebetween the uncoated portions of the sides 8 of the chest body and thedepending sides 16 of the closed lid.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the novel construction andarrangement of the slotted guide strips and links permit of suchlocation and movements of the support members, whereby the parts of thesupports will be exposed only when the lid isopen and will be disposedon the outside of the chest body and concealed and protected fromcontact with thearoma or vapor in the chest at all times when the coveris closed. By this means the support members will be so placed that theycan not interfere with the clothing or contents of the chest so as to beinjured by contact therewith or to cause injury to such contents. Alsoit will be seen that the supporting members by being sealed againstexposure to the atmosphere of thechest will be protected against thedeposit of cedar oil vapor by catalytic action-thereon, so that thesupport elements may,if desired, be made without Further, in the eventthat the support members are made of catalytic metal, provided withaplating orcoating'of non-catalytic material, any rubbing acments are atall times so located as to be out of a contact therewith.

It will be observed'that these important advantages are obtained byconstructing and mounting the stay links 20 and'their guide strips orplates 19 so that said links and plates or strips relatively foldsubstantially horizontally and in 1;

parallelrelation on the outer sides of the wall- 6 of the chest body andbetween the same and the depending sides 16 of thelid so that thesupports will lie between the same and be thereby guarded against injuryandshieldedfrom exposure either on the inside or the outside of thechest. These advantages are gained in a very simple manner without thenecessity of specially constructing the walls of the chest or walls ofthe lid to provide for the reception of the links, and withif out addingin any material way to the cost of construction of the chest.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,the construction, mode of operation and advantages of my improvedsupport for the lids of cedar chests will be readily understood andappreciated by those versed in the art without a further and extendeddescription. While the construction shown for carrywithout departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a lid support for cedar chests, and in combination with a chestbody and its hinged lid, said lid having depending sides arranged toclose down upon the outer sides of the sides of the body, guide membersdisposed upon the inner faces of said depending sides of the lid, andlongitudinally straight stay links pivotally connected at one end to theouter faces of the sides of the chest body and slidably and pivotallyconnected at their opposite ends to the said guide members so as to foldwith said guide members substantially horizontally and in parallelrelation to each other in the space between the sides of the body andsides of the lid and so as to lie between the upper edges of the sidesof the lid in the closed position of the latter.

2. In a lid support for cedar chests, and in combination with a chestbody and its hinged lid, said lid having depending sides arranged toclose down on the outer sides of the sides of the body and provided withgrooves upon their inner faces, slotted guide strips secured to saidinner faces of the sides of the lid with their slots coacting with thegrooves to form guideways, headed pins slidably and pivotally engagingsaid guideways, and longitudinally straight stay links pivotallyconnected at one end to the outer faces of the sides of the chest bodyand connected at their opposite ends to said headed pins so as to foldwith said guide strips in parallel relation to each other in the spacebetween the sides of the body and sides of the lid and so as to liebetween the upper edges of the sides of the body and the lower edges ofthe sides of the lid in the closed position of the latter.

3. In a lid support for cedar chests, and in combination with a chestbody and its hinged lid, said lid having depending sides arranged toclose down upon the outer sides of the sides of the body, guide membersupon the inner faces of the depending sides of the lid, andlongitudinally straight link members pivotally connected to the outerfaces of the sides of the body and slidably and pivotally connected attheir opposite ends to the guide members, the arrangement being suchthat in the closed condition of the lid said members and links liefolded substantially in a horizontal plane and in parallel relation inthe spaces between the lid and body sides and between the upper edges ofthe body sides and the lower edges of the sides of the lid on theoutside of the body.

i. In a lid support for cedar chests, and in combination with a chestbody having side walls provided on their outer sides with a finishingcoating terminating below their upper marginal edges and leavinguncoated portions between such coated portions and such edges, and a lidhaving depending sides arranged to close down on the outer sides of thesides of the body, guide members on the inner faces of the dependingsides of the lid having longitudinal guideways, and longitudinallystraight stay links pivoted at one end upon said uncoated portions ofthe sides of the body and having their opposite ends slidably andpivotally engaging said guideways of the guide members, said links andmembers being arranged to fold in a substantially horizontal plane andin parallel relation to each other in the spaces between the sides ofthe lid and sides of the body and between the upper edges of the bodysides and the lower edges of the sides of the lid in the closed positionof the lid.

5. In a lid support for cedar chests, and in combination with a chestbody and its hinged lid, said lid being hinged at its rear edge to therear edge of the body and adapted to close down upon the upper edge ofthe body and provided at its front and sides with molding strips adaptedto extend outside of and surround the front and side walls of the bodywhen the lid is closed, longitudinally slotted guide members disposed onthe inner faces of the side molding strips, and longitudinally straightstay links pivoted to the side walls of the chest body and slidably andpivotally engaging the slots in said guide members so as to foldsubstantially horizontally parallel with said guide members whollybetween the side molding strips and sides of the chest and between theupper edges of the sides of the chest body and lower edges of the sidesof the lid when the lid is in closed position.

6. In a lid support for cedar chests, the combination, with a chestbody, of a hinged lid adapted to close down upon the upper edges of thewalls of the body, said lid being provided on its underside at the frontand sides with molding strips arranged to lie on the outside of thefront and side walls of the body when the lid is in closed position, themolding strips at the sides of the lid having recesses formed in theirinner faces, guide plates secured to said side molding strips over saidrecesses and provided with longitudinal slots cooperating with saidrecesses to form guideways, headed pins slidably and pivotally engagingthe slots in the guide plates and movable in said guideways, andlongitudinally straight guide links pivotally connected at one end tofixed pivots on the outer faces of the sides of the chest body andconnected at their other ends to said headed pins, the arrangement beingsuch that said links are adapted to fold with said guide plateshorizontally in parallel relation to each other in the spaces betweenthe sides of the body and the side molding strips of the lid and betweenthe upper edges of the sides of the body and lower edges of said sidemolding strips in the closed position of the lid.

GRADY A. LOFTIN.

